• About

I Never Unpack

~ Traveling the country, gathering its lessons, learning its secrets

I Never Unpack

Category Archives: Pork Dishes

Finding Your Park In Your Own Backyard #2…and Provision Pork Stew with Cornmeal Dumplings

02 Friday Oct 2015

Posted by slvrhawk2014 in Find Your Park, Missouri, Photography, Pork Dishes, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Find Your Park, Missouri, photography, Pork Dishes, Travel

  • Adventure 1-The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail              
  • Destination 2-Lewis & Clark Boat House and Nature Center

DSCN8125 (3)

Our next stop at sites along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail takes us to St. Charles, Missouri. St. Charles is the oldest city on the Missouri River, having been founded in 1769 by Louis Blanchette, a French-Canadian fur trader. When he founded the city, he called it “Les Petites Cotes”, “The Little Hills”.

It was from St. Charles, that a group of men called the Corps of Discovery, departed on May 21, 1804, on the epic journey we call the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The purpose of their journey was to explore the western continent newly acquired by the United States. In the words of President Thomas Jefferson to Meriwether Lewis:

The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river, & such principal stream of it, as, by it’s course and communication with the waters of the Pacific ocean…may offer the most direct & practicable water communication across this continent for the purpose of commerce.

Today, St. Charles is a vibrant city that has managed to retain much of its history and tradition. Main Street is still laid with bricks, and all manner of shops and restaurants line both sides of the street for its entire length. Frontier Park is on the banks of the Missouri River in St. Charles, and is a gathering place for festivals, picnics, and leisurely walks. Sunrise on the Missouri at Frontier Park can be a beautiful site.

Main Street in St. Charles
Main Street in St. Charles
A statue stands as a tribute to the Corps of Discovery, and to Lewis and Clark, in Frontier Park.
A statue stands as a tribute to the Corps of Discovery, and to Lewis and Clark, in Frontier Park.
St. Charles is in St. Charles County, the first place in Missouri to see the sun rise each morning.
St. Charles is in St. Charles County, the first place in Missouri to see the sun rise each morning.

But… back to the Boat House! The first thing you will notice as you approach the building is the large first floor space enclosed in iron bars. This is where the reconstructed boats of the Expedition are kept: the keel boat and two pirogues. The keel boat is 55 feet long and has a carrying capacity of twelve to fourteen tons. The boats at the Boat House are the boats you will see in an upcoming mini-series about the Lewis and Clark Expedition being filmed by HBO.

The reconstructed keel boat and the two pirogues are stored on the ground level of the Boat House when not in use on the river.
The reconstructed keel boat and the two pirogues are stored on the ground level of the Boat House when not in use on the river.
In 2006, my husband and I took our classes to Frontier Park to see the "corps" of new explorers as they returned from recreating the famous journey of the Corps of Discovery.
In 2006, my husband and I took our classes to Frontier Park to see the “corps” of new explorers as they returned from recreating the famous journey of the Corps of Discovery.

From viewing the boats, you will climb the stairs to the museum and the museum store. Inside the museum are displays relating to the Corps of Discovery and the city of St. Charles.

The museum is full of interesting information about the Lewis and Clark Expedition, as well as information about early St. Charles and the Missouri River.

A half scale model of St. Borromeo Church reminds us of the original parish church built in Les Petites Cotes and dedicated in 1791.
A half scale model of St. Borromeo Church reminds us of the original parish church built in Les Petites Cotes and dedicated in 1791.
When you walk through the doors of the parish model, you enter a room in which to view films, see demonstrations, and hold educational activities...a truly magical place.
When you walk through the doors of the parish model, you enter a room in which to view films, see demonstrations, and hold educational activities…a truly magical place.
Today, St. Borromeo is a thriving parish with a school which serves many children in the city of St. Charles.
Today, St. Borromeo is a thriving parish with a school which serves many children in the city of St. Charles.

As you enter the museum, you can pick up a guide full of questions. As you tour the museum looking for the answers to the questions…I call it an information scavenger hunt…you will learn about the Corps of Discovery through interactive activities, models, murals, displays and dioramas.

These half models of buildings in St. Charles introduce visitors to life in the city as it developed.
These half models of buildings in St. Charles introduce visitors to life in the city as it developed.
You will find this bull boat in the museum, along with displays on weather, the river, and geology.
You will find this bull boat in the museum, along with displays on weather, the river, and geology.
One of my students' favorite displays was the nature display. The display, consisting of a beaver pond, a bubbling spring, a prairie, and a hillside cutaway, helps visitors learn about the plants and animals that were encountered by the Corps.
One of my students’ favorite displays was the nature display. The display, consisting of a beaver pond, a bubbling spring, a prairie, and a hillside cutaway, helps visitors learn about the plants and animals that were encountered by the Corps.

And, of course, there is a museum store. The Trading Post at The Boat House is full of many items pertaining to the Lewis and Clark Expedition to tempt both children and adults. I almost never get out of there without something, especially if I spend any time at all in the book section.

As we left the museum and the boats behind, we took a little time to walk through the garden in front of the building. The gardens highlight those plants that grow and thrive in a flood plain. A sign in the garden explains that many of the plants have roots that go six to ten feet down into the soil, and that many of the plants have survived three floods and a drought. You will also see an old canoe hollowed out from one large tree trunk. One of my favorite things outside the museum are the numerous pieces of driftwood. The Missouri River carries a lot of sediment as it flows through the western American continent to join the Mississippi River not far from St. Charles. The pieces of wood which come down with this sediment are broken down and smoothed to form, what I think are, pieces of art made by nature itself.

The garden on the riverbank with tall, fast growing plants.
The garden on the riverbank with tall, fast growing plants.
A cup sunflower in the riverside garden.
A cup sunflower in the riverside garden.
An old canoe hollowed out of the trunk of a single tree.
An old canoe hollowed out of the trunk of a single tree.
I love the driftwood...
I love the driftwood…
all the driftwood everywhere along the riverbank.
all the driftwood everywhere along the riverbank.

So, as you venture out this year to “Find Your Park”, maybe you will consider the Lewis and Clark Historic Trail, and The Boat House and Nature Center in St. Charles, MO, which lays along this national treasure. You can learn more about The Lewis and Clark Boat House and Nature Center on their website at http://www.lewisandclarkcenter.org/

*Provision Pork Stew with Cornmeal Dumplings

When the Corps of Discovery left on their epic journey, they carried with them 3,705 pounds of pork, more than any other commodity. It was their go-to item on those days when the men sent out to hunt dinner came back empty-handed. This stew may have been a second choice, but it is really good. My husband and I eat it often as a “first choice”.

DSCN8151 (3)

Pork Stew

  • 2 lbs. pork butt, trimmed and cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 1/4 c. stone-ground cornmeal
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. black pepper
  • 2-3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 2 onion, peeled and cut into eighths
  • 4 cups beef broth

Place the pork in a plastic bag with the cornmeal, salt, and pepper. Shake the bag until all the pork is covered in the cornmeal mixture.

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven at medium-high heat. Lightly brown the pork on all sides. Add the onions and cook until they soften, stirring often. This will take between 8 and 10 minutes, and you may need to reduce the heat a bit to keep the onions from burning.

Add the beef broth and simmer over medium-low heat for about an hour.

This stew tastes best if you refrigerate it overnight. When it is dinner time, just skim the fat from the top and heat for at least 20 minutes, stirring often. Do not allow the bottom to burn. While the stew is heating, prepare the dumplings.

Cornmeal Dumplings

  • 1 c. flour
  • 1/4 c. stone-ground yellow cornmeal
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 Tbsp. melted butter

Mix the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. Stir in 1/3 cup of water and the melted butter, just until moistened.

Gently drop spoonfuls of dough on top of the stew  as it simmers over medium-high heat…I do this with my fingers. Cover tightly, lower the heat to medium-low, and cook for about 10 minutes…DO NOT LIFT THE LID. Serve immediately.  Serves 4-6

Enjoy!

*This recipe was adapted from The Food Journal of Lewis & Clark: Recipes for an Expedition, by Mary Gunderson. It was published in 2003 by History Cooks in Yankton, SD.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

An American Small Town…and Western Carolina Barbecue

29 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by slvrhawk2014 in Food, North Carolina, Photography, Pork Dishes, Travel

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Food, North Carolina, photography, Pork Dishes, Travel

We made a trip this July to visit two of our children who live on the East Coast. As we traveled, we were drawn in by the beauty of the countryside: the prairies of the Midwest, the Appalachian foothills, the Blue Ridge of the Appalachian Mountains, the Piedmont, and on to the coastal plain. There is so much to see in this big nation of ours…and we are trying to see it all!

Our first stop to see family, and spend several days, was at the home of our daughter and her family in Salisbury, North Carolina. They had moved to this town of around 35,000 people the month before, and it would be our first time in Salisbury, which lies about midway between Charlotte and Greensboro.

While there, I realized once again, how often we travel through a place, or even stop to visit family or friends, and take in nothing of the place itself. But because our daughter knows we love to sight-see, and she and her family love to geocache, she had a full list of places for us to visit and things for us to do.

So, I thought I would highlight this American small town, hoping to encourage everyone to stop, look around, and enjoy the individuality of some of the places in which we might find ourselves. Often, some of our best vacation memories happen in places we have never even heard of.

Salisbury, North Carolina, was founded in 1753 as the county seat for the newly established Rowan County. It is situated in North Carolina’s Piedmont region. Salisbury has a rich history, is deeply rooted in that history, and has done much to preserve it. While we did not see everything Salisbury has to offer, we did get a taste of the town, and are looking forward to more discoveries on future visits. Here is what we took in this time…

DSCN6880 (2)

This town well was dug in the mid-1700’s. It was still being used by a family named Boyden in the early 1900’s. That is our grandson leaning over the well, and enjoying history with his grandparents.

DSCN6877 (2)

Not far from the small law office pictured above, another law office, approximately 14×14 1/2 was built on a lot by Spruce Macay. He was a popular lawyer, law teacher, and judge. His most famous student was Andrew Jackson, the future President, who studied law under Macay from 1784-1785. Jackson was admitted to the bar in Rowan County in 1787. In 1876, that wood frame building was dismantled and shipped to Philadelphia to be featured at the Centennial Exhibition to be held in Philadelphia. Somehow, along the way, the building was lost and its whereabouts has never been discovered. A marker at the spot is all we have to mark its location. However, the desk used by Jackson when he was studying law in Salisbury can still be seen at a Salisbury museum.

The law office of Archibald Henderson, built around 1820, and pictured above, is typical of the small law offices that were built in courthouse towns. The building also served as the public library in Salisbury from 1911-1921.

Spruce Macay, Andrew Jackson, and Archibald Henderson would all have drawn water from the town well pictured above.

DSCN6873

DSCN6874 (2)

DSCN6876 (2)

In the first block of West Fisher street, native Salisbury artist, Cynthia Arthur Rankin, has painted a magnificent mural of life in Salisbury at the turn of the twentieth century. An interesting note about the mural is that all the people in the painting are real residents of the city who posed in period clothes for this historical piece of artwork.

DSCN6870 (2)

In the Brooklyn-South Square Historic District on E. Bank Street, we found a reminder of our nation’s most troubled years, the Civil War years. A Confederate Prison Camp was established in Salisbury on the site of an old cotton factory in 1861. The prison was designed to house 2,500 prisoners, however, by 1864 its population soared to 10,000 men. Deaths due to overcrowding and poor sanitation within the prison rose to near 4,000 inmates. The Garrison House, pictured above, is the only remaining building from Salisbury Prison.

DSCN6872 (2)

This two-story house sits near the Garrison House on E. Bank St. in Salisbury.

The dead were carried to burial trenches not far from the prison. It is not known how many trenches were dug, but the number is presumed to be between thirteen and eighteen. Nor do we know exactly how many bodies were buried in the trenches, but estimates place the number between 1,800 and 10,000. These burial trenches are now part of the Salisbury National Cemetery.

DSCN6885 (2)

Markers now stand at the beginning of each of the burial trenches engraved with the word “Unknown” to honor the soldiers buried there.

DSCN6891

A fifty foot obelisk was built at the beginning of the trenches to commemorate the soldiers buried in the Salisbury National Cemetery. Next to the obelisk is the Maine Monument, dedicated to soldiers from Maine who died in the prison camp.

DSCN6804 (2)

We also found time to explore some natural places around Salisbury. We visited Dan Nicholas Park, eight miles southeast of Salisbury. The park has a campground and caters to families. There are so many things to keep young and old both busy and having fun.

DSCN6798 (2)

There is a 10 acre lake at Dan Nicholas, with a trail that goes all the way around, and opportunities for paddling…

DSCN6790 (2)

and the ducks are always fun to see!

Within an hour’s drive from Salisbury is Morrow Mountain State Park in Albemarle, NC. We went to look out over the countryside, and to take a hike in the woods. What a beautiful place!

DSCN6832 (2)

The view atop Morrow Mountain…

DSCN6843 (2)

a great walk in the woods!

DSCN6854

The mountain is made of rhyolite, a rock that was used by Native Americans 10,000 years ago to make arrowheads.

And one last place…we found a great hot dog stand called Cookout. This area chain restaurant has great hamburgers and really good hot dogs that taste, for all the world, like a hot dog at any professional ball park. It is a place we will visit every time we visit Salisbury.

DSCN6862 (2)

I hope I have encouraged you to take time to visit some of the drive-through sites and small American towns you come across as you travel this very big country of ours. You never know what you will find!

Carolina Barbecue

Before we start talking about my featured food for this post, I need to mention that Salisbury, NC is home to the Cheerwine soft drink company. We enjoyed it so much, we brought some home with us. It is not readily available across the country, but is beginning to make inroads in other markets. If you have the chance, you need to try some Cheerwine!

DSCN7278 (2)

Popcorn, Cheerwine, and my Cardinals…yeah!

In North Carolina, hogs are a huge commodity, so pork meat is very important to the Carolina cuisine. Pig roasts are big events in North Carolina where folks get together for “pig pickin'”. Guests pick all the meat off the roasted pig, and enjoy eating it with pot-luck dishes that everyone has brought to share.

But the most famous pork served in North Carolina is barbecued pork. if you are from the eastern side of North Carolina, you prefer Eastern Carolina Barbecue, shredded and served with a sauce that is made with vinegar and red peppers. If you are on the western side of the state, the pork barbecue is chopped and served with a sauce that is vinegar and ketchup based. We have had both kinds and absolutely prefer the Western Carolina version. After we returned home, I found a recipe for Western Carolina Barbecue, tweaked it a bit, and enjoyed it for several days, having some left over to freeze for another day. The recipe I adapted is on Food.com. which features a recipe from the “Weber Big Book of Grilling”.

One more note: Carolina Barbecue is usually served with a generous portion of hush puppies…I know my doctor would be much happier if he were to know we had ours with a raw zucchini and corn salad!

DSCN7280 (2)

Western Carolina Barbecue

Preparing the pork:

  • 1-3 lb. boneless pork shoulder, rolled and tied which has sat at room temperature for 20-30 minutes.
  • kosher salt
  • ground black pepper

Heat your grill to medium heat (350-450 degrees). Salt and pepper the roast and lay it fat side up on the grill using an indirect heat. Grill until the internal temperature is between 185 and 190 degrees. This should take 2-3 hours. Don’t hurry it along…it just keeps getting more tender!

When the roast registers the correct temperature, remove it from the grill, cover it with foil, and allow it to sit for at least 20 minutes.

Preparing the sauce:

  • 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup chopped onions
  • 2 cups ketchup
  • 2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 1/3-1/2 cup yellow mustard (we prefer it with a little less mustard)
  • 1/2 cup cider vinegar
  • 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • Tabasco sauce to taste, about 1 tsp.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat Add the onions and cook until they are translucent. This should take about 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat and simmer the sauce for 10 minutes and set to the side to cool to room temperature.

To serve:

Chop the pork and moisten it with some of the sauce. Pile on a hamburger bun, add a bit more sauce if you like, top with a coleslaw of your choice…and eat! There is ample barbecue here to server 8-10 people.

Enjoy!

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Protecting Our Prairies…and Midwestern Pork Chops with Cream Gravy

24 Wednesday Jun 2015

Posted by slvrhawk2014 in Food, Missouri, Nature, Photography, Pork Dishes, Travel

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Food, Missouri, Nature, photography, Pork Dishes, Travel

As Charles Ingalls of “Little House” fame moved his family across the Midwest, setting up homesteads in Minnesota, Kansas, Iowa, and South Dakota, he, Ma, and their children were always presented with the beauty, the vastness, and the challenge of the tallgrass prairie. No matter how hard they worked, they were always mindful of the challenges of life on the prairie…the droughts, the fires, the severe storms, the locusts, and even the loneliness. But in the good years, when there was enough, but not too much rain, when the locusts stayed away, when they could get through the loneliness and the dangers of a brutal winter, when the crops were successful, there was nothing like living on the wide open Midwestern prairie. The land was fertile, the changing seasons of the tallgrass were beautiful, and living among people who were always willing to lend a hand was a truly blessed life.

DSCN6546 (4)

When our children were young, we took them to see several of the Inglalls homesteads. After we moved to Missouri, they also had an opportunity to visit the home in which Laura lived after she moved to Missouri with her husband, Alonzo Wilder. Those places that were once open prairie have been, for the most part, turned into fields growing wheat, corn, and soybeans. We may have seen “where” the Ingalls lived, but we certainly did not see the “places” they had lived. For there is today, less than 1% of original American tallgrass prairie left.

The American prairie was created thousands of years ago. As the Rocky Mountains pushed higher into the sky they created a rain shadow on their eastern side. This made it impossible for trees to survive well in this region. As glaciers moved down over the land in the rain shadow, they flattened the area, and as the glaciers melted, they left their rich sediment behind.

DSCN6536 (2)

 

Watching a storm come to the prairie is a spectacular experience.

Watching a storm come to the prairie is a spectacular experience.

The tallgrass prairie, those found in fourteen Midwestern states, developed because many different animals, such as deer, bison, and elk had used the land for grazing long before any white man arrived. The Native Americans were also burning the prairie at regular intervals to aid the prairie in revitalizing itself. Tallgrass prairie is dependent on fire to clear out dead plant matter, as well as to kill off any trees that might have germinated.

Bergamot
Bergamot
Cinquefoil
Cinquefoil
Catgut
Catgut
Purple Coneflower and Lead Plant
Purple Coneflower and Lead Plant
Wine Cup
Wine Cup

Plants that grow on the prairie are unlike any other. The grasses are called sedges, and the flowering plants are called forbs. Many of these plants, especially the grasses, have root systems that can go down as far as fifteen feet below the surface of the land. Up to 75% of the biomass of these plants is underground. So when fire clears off the prairie, these grasses can reach way down to find their source of regeneration. The roots not only help the plants to regenerate, but their bulk helps stabilize the land and guard against erosion. Without fire, the prairie would disappear because the surviving trees would shade them, as well as crowd them out.

There is a concerted effort in the Midwest to save the limited amount of virgin prairie still remaining, as well as restoring other pieces of land to their prairie beginnings. In Missouri, this task has been taken on by the Missouri Prairie Foundation. Its mission is to obtain and preserve as much original prairie as possible, as well as work to restore other parcels of land to prairie. A few weeks ago, my husband and I attended the dedication of Linden Prairie in southwestern Missouri, an unplowed piece of original prairie owned by MPF. It is a beautiful place…I commented that I thought I knew what the prairie looked like, but after seeing Linden, I understood I had been wrong.

Tallgrass prairies are an important ecosystem in the Midwest. I am thankful that groups like MPF are working hard to save them and I hope you take an opportunity to see a real tallgrass prairie…then you, too, will want them to be preserved. You can find out more about the Missouri Prairie Foundation and their work by visiting their website at

http://www.moprairie.org/

Other places you might want to visit to experience the prairie up close and personal are:

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Kansas,

http://www.nps.gov/tapr/index.htm

Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa,

http://www.fws.gov/refuge/neal_smith/

and Prairie State Park in Missouri, 

https://mostateparks.com/park/prairie-state-park

And now a recipe that would have made Pa very happy after working on the prairie all day…no matter what the job had been,

DSCN6583 (3)

Midwestern Chops with Cream Gravy

  • 6 pork chops, preferably from a local farmer
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. pepper
  • 1 tsp. Cajun seasoning (or adjust to taste)
  • 4 Tbsp. oil
  • 2 cups milk

Mix together, in a shallow dish, the flour, salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning. Dredge the chops in the flour and save the unused flour.

Heat the oil in a large skillet and heat to medium-high. Brown the chops on both sides and add 1/4 cup of water. Cover and cook over lo heat for 30 minutes or until pork chops register 145 degrees on a meat thermometer. Remove the cover and crisp the pork chops. Remove chops to a paper lined plate to drain.

Make sure you have 3 tablespoons of oil remaining in the pan; add some if you need to. Scrape up the little crispy bits of flour in the pan, they make the gravy extra good.

Add 3 to 4 Tbsp. of the reserved flour to the hot oil, and stir constantly until lightly browned. Add 2 cups of milk all at once and continue stirring until the gravy is thick and bubbly. If you think the gravy is too thick, you can add a bit of water. Season the gravy with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the pork chops smothered in the gravy. We also love sauteed beet greens with these pork chops, and mashed potatoes go good with everything!

Enjoy!

The recipe above was adapted from one I found at food.com. The Cajun seasoning was my addition to the original recipe. I am not sure Ma would have had this ingredient in her cupboard, but it gives the pork chops a nice extra kick!

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Gullah Fried Pork Chops…and a Bit of Sea Island Culture

10 Monday Feb 2014

Posted by slvrhawk2014 in Food, Pork Dishes, South Carolina, Travel

≈ 2 Comments

Looking out to sea just outside of Charleston, SC

Looking out to sea just outside of Charleston, SC

In 2012 Jim and I spent four days in Charleston, SC. What a beautiful city, so steeped in history and southern culture. The wisest decision we made about our visit to Charleston was to take a tour of the city with a guide to introduce us to, and help us better understand, the history of the city and its culture. This tour also made it easier for us to decide what places we would visit on our own and helped us appreciate the importance and relevance of the sites we saw just in passing. It made all our visits more meaningful and encouraged me to read and learn more about the history of this area of America. I highly recommend anyone who is visiting Charleston for the first time to take advantage of one of the city’s many guided tour options. The experience will greatly enrich your stay and your understanding of the area.

Before we leave on any trip, it is generally planned out to the most minute detail, thanks to my husband. However, as well mapped out as any of our journeys ever is, we often find something unexpected along the way, which becomes one of the highlights of the trip. Our unexpected surprise for this trip was an introduction to the Gullah culture of the Georgia and South Carolina Lowcountry.

The Gullah Culture

The Gullah people of the South Carolina and Georgia Lowcountry are descendants of African slaves brought to the area to work on the rice and indigo plantations of the coastal plain and the Sea Islands. By the 1800’s there were thousands of acres covered with rice fields in the region. The Gullah people are believed to have come from areas around Sierra Leone and Liberia where rice was a major crop. As a result, these newly arrived slaves were well able to tend rice fields like those they left behind in Africa. The people of the Gullah community today still practice many of the cultural traditions of these West African nations.

100_4325

The Lowcountry, with its hot and humid summers, acted as a breeding ground for disease bearing insects. To avoid such things as malaria, the plantation owners and their families moved inland during the hot summer months. They left the caring of the rice fields in the hands of the slaves. Living and working on the plantation without the white owner families gave the slaves the chance to continue practicing their own traditions. They were able to instill these customs and traditions in the lives of their children.  They also perfected  the farming skills they had learned in their native land.

These African slaves also created their own dialect, a combination of English and Creole with a native African slant. Some time ago the New Testament was translated into the Gullah language. Below is John 3:16 translated into the Gullah language.

“Cause God lob all de people een de wol sommuch dat e gii we e onliest Son. God sen we um so dat ebrybody wa bleebe pon um ain gwine dead. Dey gwine lib faebamo.” 

The Gullah people created their own cooking style from the traditions and customs of their native land. But their cooking was also dependent on the foods that were available to them in their Lowcountry home. They cooked simply, with ingredients they had. They created wonderful flavors, not by use of recipes, but by trial and error…by finding what tasted good. They discovered that spices would make a dish taste good, even when made from very simple ingredients.

I will talk more about the Gullah people and their life today. But first let’s take a look at some really good pork chops cooked in the Gullah tradition.

While we were in Charleston, I bought a cookbook of Gullah recipes. One of our favorite dishes from the book is for Gullah Fried Pork Chops. What makes these pork chops so good is the seasoned rub used to coat them before frying. While the book does give information on ordering a Gullah seasoning, I was able to find several recipes for it on line. The one I chose was simpler than most, relying on things I already had in my pantry. I did not want to have to go out and buy a whole bag full of spices I would not use up very quickly.

Gullah Seasoning

  • 1/4 cup garlic powder
  • 1/4 cup onion powder
  • 1/4 cup salt
  • 1/4 cup ground black  pepper
  • 1 Tbsp. and 1 tsp. paprika

Mix all the ingredients together. This seasoning can be stored in a tightly closed container for up to three months in a dark place, or in the freezer for up to a year.

This recipe for Gullah seasoning can be found at

http://www.oprah.com/food/Gullah-Seasoning-for-Fried-Foods-Recipe#ixzz2c46pH2ez

DSCN1074

Gullah Pork Chops…so very good!

Gullah Fried Pork Chops

  • 6 bone-in pork chops, 3/4″ thick
  • 3 Tbsp. Gullah Seasoning(from recipe above)
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil

Rinse the pork chops and pat them dry with a paper towel. Season each pork chop with 1 tsp. of the seasoning. Take a little time and gently rub the seasoning into the meat on both sides. Cover with waxed paper and let sit for 10 minutes.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet. Combine the flour and 1 Tbsp. of the seasoning. Dredge the chops in the flour mixture, shaking off any excess. Place into frying pan and cook on medium heat for 10-15 minutes until the chops are golden brown on both sides. Drain chops on paper toweling.

This recipe is adapted from The Ultimate Gullah Cookbook, by Jesse Edward Gantt, Jr. and Veronica Davis Gerald. It was published 2003 by The Gullah House Foundation.

I served these delicious pork chops with a farro and butternut squash risotto. It is a great dish to serve as a meatless main course, but it worked wonderfully with the Gullah pork chops. You can find the recipe for Farrotto with Butternut, Gruyere and Hazelnuts at http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/farrotto-butternut-gruyere-hazelnuts-50400000118577/.

The Gullah Culture Today

The traditions of the Gullah culture continue today in the lives of the descendants of the African slaves brought here many years ago to work the plantations of the Lowcountry. We find their musical traditions in songs like “Michael Rode His Boat Ashore”. We find their cooking traditions in cookbooks and in various restaurants of the Charleston area. And we find their art in the sweetgrass baskets the women of the Gullah community still make today. You will find these women on many Charleston street corners. You can watch them weave their beautiful baskets in addition to purchasing one of the many they have on display. I bought a small one and use it often.

A sweetgrass stand on a street corner in Charleston.

A sweetgrass stand on a street corner in Charleston.

One of  the greatest challenges for the Gullah community is their fight to save some of their traditional lands on the Sea Islands. Commercial and tourist development on the islands threatens these areas and the Gullahs have begun to take their cause to court.

You can learn more about the Gullah culture, their ancestral lands and culture by visiting the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor site at http://www.nps.gov/guge/index.htm.

In my next post, we will return to Charleston, its own special traditions and its own special culture.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...
Blogging U.

Archives

  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • May 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • October 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014

Categories

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • I Never Unpack
    • Join 227 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • I Never Unpack
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
    %d bloggers like this: